Expedition up North: sleeping on a glacier while the sun never sets

While the Netherlands was melting in the heat, we set off with a group of 9 for Svalbard. It’s a place that almost falls off the map, being one of the most remote areas on Earth and home to the northernmost airport in the world. Via Oslo, where we picked up our full expedition gear, we boarded a ship that looked like it had sailed straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Svalbard is bizarre. We had read about it, but you only truly understand it once you’re there. Endless snow plains, gigantic glaciers, and a sun that simply never sets. We were applying sunscreen in the middle of the night, and by day two, that felt completely normal.

Every day, we headed out in zodiacs for land expeditions, always accompanied by armed security because we were in the home of the polar bears. We skinned through fresh snow, took cold plunges after skiing, and did yoga on the freezing deck of the ship.

The absolute highlight was the night on the glacier. We set out with pulkas (Scandinavian sleds), built our own camp on the ice, cooked our meals, and slept under a sky that was just as blue at night as it was during the day. The next morning, we skied back to our ship to use the sauna. The trip ended with evenings in Longyearbyen and Oslo.

And that was that: Expedition up North with an incredible group. This one will be hard to beat, but we’re going to try again with our next expedition!

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